<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>i'm trying to confess, idiot by spideywhiteys</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29815440">i'm trying to confess, idiot</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/spideywhiteys/pseuds/spideywhiteys'>spideywhiteys</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>365 Days of Naruto AUs [61]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Confused Nara Shikamaru, F/M, First Love, Fluff, Gaara is a Good Friend (Naruto), Gryffindor Naruto, Harry Potter AU, Hogwarts AU, M/M, Multi, Naruto is Just Naruto, Naruto is a Ray of Sunshine, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Ravenclaw Sakura, Requited Unrequited Love, Slytherin Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto is a Good Friend, chouji and karui are more background, confused gaara but he's also cute, durmstrang sand trio, gaara and naruto are penpals, he's also bad at feelings, hufflepuff chouji, hufflepuff sai, no true angst just love troubles, not connected to the harry potter timeline, ravenclaw shikamaru, sakura and shikamaru big brain friendship, sasusaku and inosai are secondary but still part of the story, shikamaru POV, slytherin ino, they're all cute, they're just a little dumb ya know</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 19:15:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,833</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29815440</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/spideywhiteys/pseuds/spideywhiteys</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Shikamaru is in love with Naruto. He's not sure what to do about this just yet, but he's working on it. Except with the Yule Ball around the corner and the arrival of Naruto's Durmstrang penpal, Gaara, it looks like he might have to work a little faster. </p><p>Or:<br/>How three boys fall in love, from the perspective of one boy who's brilliant in everything but feelings.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Gaara/Nara Shikamaru, Gaara/Nara Shikamaru/Uzumaki Naruto, Gaara/Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura &amp; Nara Shikamaru, Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke, Nara Shikamaru/Uzumaki Naruto, Sai/Yamanaka Ino, Uchiha Sasuke &amp; Yamanaka Ino</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>365 Days of Naruto AUs [61]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2086938</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>57</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>i'm trying to confess, idiot</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Day 61: Harry Potter AU / ShikaGaaNaru</p><p>- This is going to be a series! This first bit will likely be five chapers max, maybe around 15-20K words and be about how these three numbskulls get together. The series will focus more on different times of there life, and the lives of other characters.<br/>- I don't support JK. Her world is my sandbox to do with what I want without giving her money.<br/>- Updates will be slow, sporadic, and with no consistent word length.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>At age eleven, Uzumaki Naruto is sorted into Gryffindor. It comes as no surprise to his parents, or to anyone who knows him. He’s a loud, rambunctious child much like his mother was, constantly pulling pranks and sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong. Though there is a lingering distance between most Houses, pride burrowing deep into each person whether they realize it or not, Naruto seems to acknowledge no lines in the sand at all. He befriends everyone and anyone who will look at him twice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His best friends are Uchiha Sasuke, Slytherin, and Haruno Sakura, Ravenclaw. They make an unlikely trio, but soon everyone knows of them and the trouble they get up to. A perfectly cohesive unit, those three — one without the others is like a missing limb. An oddity. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And yes, they have friends outside of each other; Naruto and Sakura are perfectly amiable, Naruto perhaps more exuberant and friendly. Sasuke attracts people despite being reticent. So it’s not like it’s impossible to join in on their crazy hijinks…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But there is no squeezing your way between them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At least that’s what Shikamaru thought when he first watched them in action — when he first sat down and compiled his thoughts and memories from over the months and years. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>That’s what he thought until Sai came along, a Hufflepuff that was too honest for his own good, indiscriminately hard-working and good at almost everything he does, and unfalteringly loyal once you earn his trust. Shikamaru has spent more time than he cares to admit watching Sai, wondering how he wormed his way into the trio and turned it into a quartet. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It takes him a bit longer to realize he’s jealous.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not of the friendship, really. Because he has that. He has Naruto’s friendship, and he can respect that Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and Sai have something a little different because Shikamaru has Chouji and Ino.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’s jealous of how Sai managed to move from one level to the next, how he deepened their relationship as effortlessly as breathing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shikamaru is sixteen when he realizes he’s been in love with Uzumaki Naruto for two years. For someone as smart as he is, he’s the last to see it because emotions don’t always register in his head as easily as they do with others; as easily as they do for Naruto — Naruto, who is ruled by his heart, not wearing it on his sleeve but instead holding it out for whoever passes by. Cupped in his hands, fragile and soft and breakable like a bird.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yule Ball.” Ino says, her hands smacking down on the table. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s breakfast time on a Monday, the tired, half-asleep students still slowly trickling into the Great Hall. Shikamaru’s eyes hurt. He doesn’t want to be here, he wants to be in bed, where it’s warm and soft and there’s no need for responsibility. If he could spend two-thirds of his life sleeping instead of just one-third, he’d do it in a heartbeat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The what?” Chouji asks around a mouthful of ham, his Hufflepuff tie in disarray. There’s no hope for him ever getting it right. It’s been over five years now, it’s just not happening.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The Yule Ball.” Ino repeats, blue eyes blazing. “The biggest event at Hogwarts. They hold it every three years. Only fifth, sixth and seventh years are allowed. Anyone younger has to be invited as a date.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shikamaru vaguely remembers something like that happening their second year, but hadn’t paid much attention to it because of his age. It didn’t have anything to do with him, so it wasn’t like he would bother spending energy or effort thinking about it. “...Okay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ino rolls her eyes heavenward. “So, you two need to get dates. Durmstrang and Beauxbaton will be coming too. It’s going to be the </span>
  <em>
    <span>biggest</span>
  </em>
  <span> party of our entire Hogwarts career! The only time we </span>
  <em>
    <span>ever </span>
  </em>
  <span>get to go! You absolutely </span>
  <em>
    <span>can’t</span>
  </em>
  <span> skip. I can’t be associated with losers.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chouji blinks. “I thought we were already losers?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ugh, well you aren’t scraping the bottom of the barrel </span>
  <em>
    <span>yet,</span>
  </em>
  <span> but you will be if you skip. You hear me?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Whatever.” Shikamaru mutters. He doesn’t care about the opinions of others. He doesn’t care about parties, they’re way too much energy. Too much socialization. He’d end up miserable in the corner for the whole night.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You two are so boring!” Ino groans, not impressed by their lackluster enthusiasm. “This is why I told your moms a few days ago.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shikamaru chokes, swallowing his orange juice wrong. After a few coughs and a heavy pat to his back by Chouji, he manages to clear his throat. “You </span>
  <em>
    <span>what?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“They were ecstatic, by the way. Both of them replied that they were going to send dress robes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chouji just hums. “Sounds good to me. Right, Shikamaru? One less thing to worry about.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shikamaru puts his head down on the table. Now that his </span>
  <em>
    <span>mother</span>
  </em>
  <span> knows about this event, he </span>
  <em>
    <span>has</span>
  </em>
  <span> to go. She’ll demand pictures and proof that he went. He can already hear the grating sound of her voice yelling at him if he skimps out after she takes the time to send him dress robes. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Great. Just great.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Ino throws her long, silky hair over her shoulder. “Chouji, you should ask Karui to go with you. I know she’s had her eye on you after you made her that cake for her birthday.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, uh—” The Hufflepuff stutters. There’s a vague look of embarrassment on his face, but most of his expression leans towards bewilderment. “Sure.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“As for Shikamaru….well.” The Slytherin girl leans forward, tapping painted nails on the table. “What’s your type? You’re always so stuffy and lazy. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look at someone longer than five seconds. Do you like brunettes? Blondes? Redheads? That Shiho girl likes you, if you’re desperate.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shikamaru groans. “Go back to your own table.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sure Shikamaru will find someone to ask.” Chouji soothes, ever the mediator. He’s on his third plate of breakfast and even though they’ve known each other their whole lives, Shikamaru still doesn’t know where the other teen puts it all. He can barely stomach half a plate in the morning.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I guess…” Ino mutters, eyeing his slumped form critically. “Maybe someone from the other schools will catch his eye. But you can’t procrastinate, Shikamaru! Going </span>
  <em>
    <span>stag</span>
  </em>
  <span> would be super lame!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Leave me alone, woman.” He grunts. Going back to bed sounds really nice right about now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He knows who he’d want to ask if he could. But everyone and their mother is probably thinking along the same lines — or maybe that’s just Shikamaru’s biased opinion. Naruto is beautiful in a rough way, with a square jaw and wide, round eyes bluer than the bluest sky, the brightest shade of sapphire. Those impossible eyes are complemented by hair the shade of spun gold, captured sun and stars. Tan skin, warm cinnamon and hot to the touch. Thin lips, long lashes — Shikamaru has catalogued every curve, every possible angle. He’s surmised hex codes for all the colors Naruto comes in. Even </span>
  <em>
    <span>they</span>
  </em>
  <span> seem to pale in comparison to seeing it in person.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shikamaru is not the only one who’s noticed the stunning visual Naruto paints. He knows this too, because it’s easy to see the way eyes follow the blonde when he walks through the halls with a blinding grin and a laugh that rings loud and clear through the din. All eyes are drawn to him, a magnet made of cosmic energy. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>People will ask Naruto.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto will probably say yes to one of them, if he doesn’t ask someone himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s figuring out how to get Naruto to say yes to </span>
  <em>
    <span>Shikamaru</span>
  </em>
  <span> that’s the problem. Because he’s not going to waste his time asking someone else, that’s a lot of effort and a definite night of awkwardness. It would be easier if Shikamaru could tell what Naruto felt about him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sometimes he thinks he sees a sign — a hint, a flash of it; he thinks for a moment that his feelings are returned. When Naruto leans in to say something, when Naruto’s ears flush at their proximity or words that Shikamaru utters, when his mouth twists into a sweet smile and his eyes look soft and hooded. It’s easy to tell when people like each other. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’s aware Shiho likes him. He’s aware Ino is in love with Sai and the man hasn’t the slightest clue. People are easy to read and most of them, at this age especially, have a hard time hiding their true feelings. The harder they try, the more obvious it is — he can see it in the tension they carry, in the unconscious flushing, in the dilated pupils. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The issue is that Shikamaru is the one in love, and he can’t tell if all the ‘signs’ Naruto is giving are just wishful thinking. Like maybe Shikamaru is just seeing something that isn’t really there — maybe he’s blowing Naruto’s reactions out of proportion. Maybe he’s looking so closely, so desperately, that even the slightest reaction is perceived as romantic in his mind.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hates not knowing things. It’s the most troublesome thing of all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who do you plan on asking, Ino?” Chouji asks innocently, drawing Ino’s attention away from Shikamaru’s depressed and annoyed form.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Slytherin flushes a pretty red that’s especially vivid on her pale cheeks. She runs her fingers through her long blonde hair in an anxious manner. “Well, Sai, obviously! I’m just hoping he’ll ask first, is all. I’m pretty popular, you know! I’ve already been asked three times since yesterday.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chouji nods. “Right, right. Well, I’m sure he’ll ask you soon, Ino! I know you’ve liked him for a while.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ino giggles, but it’s a strained kind of laugh that grates on Shikamaru’s ears. He’s not Chouji, who can remain cavalier in situations like this. He can tell how worried she is that Sai will never ask, or that Sai will say no if </span>
  <em>
    <span>she</span>
  </em>
  <span> asks. Or that he’ll be snatched up before anything can happen at all. Her love is obvious to Shikamaru, and to most around her. She’s not good at hiding it, and doesn’t usually see reason to.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ino is bold. She takes what she wants, takes chances. Shikamaru isn’t like her at all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If Sai breaks her heart, he’ll kill the man and they’ll never find his body.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Because it’s their N.E.W.T year, there are quite a few classes that the sixth years take that are a mixed bag of Houses based on who’s taking what. Shikamaru did so exceptionally well on all his O.W.L’s without putting in too much effort that he got to pick whatever the hell he wanted for his N.E.W.T-level courses. Being an adult isn’t a lot of fun in Shikamaru’s mind. It’s a lot of responsibility and decision-making he’s not sure he’s ready for.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’s bitten off more than he can chew because the workload is easy and his mother pushed him into it. At the time it was easier to give in to her demands than it was to put up a fight, but now he regrets it. He’s taking more courses than he really wants, especially as someone who doesn’t know what they want to do in life.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His schedule reads as such: Alchemy, Transfiguration, DADA, Herbology, Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, and Accelerated Arithmancy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’d almost been pushed into Charms but decided not to, and he definitely had no desire to continue with History of Magic, because the class put him to sleep soundly. Every. Single. Time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sixth year is whatever you make of it — and Shikamaru isn’t sure what he wants to make of it. He’s expected to follow his father’s footsteps and join the Ministry of Magic when he graduates, but Shikamaru thinks he would rather die than be a paper-pusher for over half his life — depending on what that paper-pushing really entailed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In all honesty, he’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>this close</span>
  </em>
  <span> to dropping out of school and becoming a hermit in the woods. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>On Monday’s, Shikamaru’s classes start with Sixth-Year Alchemy. There are four Slytherin’s, six Ravenclaw’s excluding him, three Hufflepuff’s and a single Gryffindor. Neither Ino or Chouji take the course, so he usually sits with Sakura — who’s the only other person he knows. It’s also better that they work together so no one tries to shove all the work onto one of them. Both he and Sakura have the highest grades in the class, because Sakura pushes him to actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>do</span>
  </em>
  <span> work rather than slack off and get middling grades like he’d prefer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His mother loves her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His mother thinks they should get </span>
  <em>
    <span>married.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Luckily, Sakura is just as repulsed by the idea as him. He doesn’t know what he’d do if his fellow Ravenclaw had a crush on him while he was hopelessly pining after one of her best friends. No, he’s rather glad she’s been deeply and unfathomably in love with Sasuke for probably the entirety of her life. Less drama for him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Less drama for them when they get their shit together. Right now? Eh… He’s just glad he’s not Naruto or Sai, getting front row seats to the Sasuke-Sakura spectacle. A spectacle made even worse by the fact that Sasuke’s from a pureblood family with...less friendly ideals. A muggleborn like Sakura will never be actively accepted into the family, and there’s no way the Uchiha’s will willingly let their second ‘heir’ marry someone who isn't even a </span>
  <em>
    <span>halfblood</span>
  </em>
  <span> at </span>
  <em>
    <span>least.</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  <span>He feels for her. Really. He just prefers not to think about it for the time being, while they’re still young and in school, away from their overbearing families.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(Doesn’t mean it doesn’t piss him off. Doesn’t mean he won’t figure out how to help them if they ask — or, more likely, if he sees them struggle. They’re still his </span>
  <em>
    <span>friends</span>
  </em>
  <span> after all.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Besides, he has his own family problems to worry about. Like the fact that he himself is the heir to the Nara Family, expected to succeed his father and marry someone capable of producing an heir. So, someone with a uterus — and willing to use it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto doesn’t have a uterus. If he does, there’s no way Shikamaru will ever ask because A) that’s disrespectful, and B) he’d never want to pressure Naruto into something like pregnancy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sure, the Nara are more lenient. Though mostly purebloods, they’re a mishmash of wizards across the spectrum, halfbloods and quarterbloods or whatever. Shikamaru can marry a </span>
  <em>
    <span>muggle</span>
  </em>
  <span> if he wants, as long as he manages to produce one child with magic. It’s unfortunate he doesn’t have a sibling to foist this responsibility onto.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Page three hundred.” Sakura whispers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shikamaru blinks. His thoughts had gotten away from him. Reality slides back into place — the Alchemy classroom, with its windowless walls and sharp candlelight and fifteen students. It smells like metal and fur, and the walls are lined with shelves packed with jars of bones, fluids and stones, as well as baskets of plants, skins, and shells. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He flips his textbook to page three hundred. The current chapter is on the element of fire. The fact that their books are hundreds and hundreds of pages long is not exciting to him in the least — but he is actually rather interested in Alchemy itself. His family does extensive work in the fields of Alchemy, Care of Magical Creatures, Herbology and Potions. Many Nara Wizards run care centers for rescued Magical Creatures, or are responsible for breakthroughs in health spells and potions. He’s good at those subjects. He just doesn’t know what he wants to do with this knowledge. It </span>
  <em>
    <span>could </span>
  </em>
  <span>be fun to spend his days treating various creatures and not bothering with the rest of humanity. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>That would certainly be better than wasting his days in an office at the Ministry of Magic.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After doing a bit of reading, the class is let loose to attempt a simple permanent transmutation. Copper to iron. Rather than warping the shape of matter with transfiguration, Alchemy is about changing matter on a molecular level. Warping elements into a state of permanence that can’t be changed back by releasing a spell — only by reversing the change though another alchemic transmutation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Has Ino talked to you about the Yule Ball?” Sakura asks, her voice low to keep their conversation private.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He grunts, his little block of copper wavering steadily. “...Yeah.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So you’re going?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Unfortunately.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sakura bites her lips. “She’s not planning on asking Sasuke, is she?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He glances at her then, wondering how someone so smart can be so stupid. Then again, pot. Kettle. “Sakura, maybe you two should try talking instead of posturing every time you get within two meters of each other.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She glares at him, unimpressed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shikamaru shrugs, unrepentant. “Being a middle man is really troublesome. And if you actually did talk, you’d know she’s been over Sasuke for a while now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She is?” Sakura gapes, jade eyes wide and disbelieving. He doesn’t blame her, Ino used to be so obsessed with Sasuke it was a little concerning. It’s actually a little concerning in general how many girls (and guys) end up like that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Poor Sasuke.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Thank god I’m not you.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“She’s in love with Sai.” He mutters, his copper finally shifting entirely to iron in the bowl. The liquid it bubbles in almost instantly ceases movement, growing still like the surface of a lake. “So he better ask her or something.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sakura clears her throat, less to get his attention and more to recalibrate her thoughts. Her face twists into something calculating, the shock quickly fading away. </span>
  <em>
    <span>This</span>
  </em>
  <span> is the Sakura he prefers; the one that’s adaptable and quick on her feet. She’s so much more likable now. As a child he’d always been annoyed by her, mostly because their interactions always included Ino, and that was a recipe for disaster.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know how Sai feels about her,” she admits after a few moments. “But I think she should ask him to go to the Yule Ball with her. As far as I know, he isn’t planning on asking anyone at all. She should take her chance before he ends up saying yes to someone on a whim.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah?” Shikamaru meets her sharp gaze with his own. “Tell her that yourself.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sakura grins at him, wry and faintly amused. “Maybe I will.”</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>The students from Durmstrang and Beauxbaton arrive three days later.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto has been asked to the Yule Ball a total of eight times so far, and Shikamaru feels like his window of opportunity is running out. Naruto can’t say no to </span>
  <em>
    <span>everyone,</span>
  </em>
  <span> unless he really is set on going stag — but there’s no information pointing to that. In a way, Shikamaru is a bit annoyed. His own heart is getting in the way of his brain. He can’t collect the data he wants to make the correct move.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There’s a week until the ball.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shikamaru is </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> panicking, but he’s definitely feeling the barest hint of anxiety. Just the tiniest smidge. He’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> worried. He’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>not.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Because this is just a dumb school Ball and it’s not like the rest of his life hinges on him asking out Naruto here and now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>What he’s underestimated — because he’s always somehow underestimating the capacity of Naruto’s heart — is Naruto’s ability to make friends and the sudden influx of interest from students at both of the visiting schools.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Durmstrung students make a show of stomping their way into the Great Hall, dressed in beautiful furs and clothes that look less like robes and more like military uniforms. Their ages range from fifteen to eighteen, as only fifth to seventh years can attend. They look strong. Exotic and new and pretty, drawing the eyes of the Hogwarts students. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Beauxbaton School’s students garner just as much attention, perhaps even more so. They all look oddly ethereal, practically sparkling in the warm candlelight as they gracefully dance their way between the tables. Shikamaru can see Kiba at the Gryffindor table, mouth open unattractively as he watches Beauxbaton girls pass by him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>More than a few people glance at Sasuke, whose beautiful features stand out no matter where he is. He doesn’t even glance up, even when girls from either school try to get his attention in various subtle and unsubtle ways.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They’re fools for even trying. Sasuke isn’t attracted to people in the usual way. He’s attracted to connection, to comfort and intelligence. It’s why Shikamaru knows that Sakura is probably the only one the Uchiha looks at.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Though it’s only been three days, Ino and Sakura seem to have repaired their friendship entirely, and now Sakura, who’s sat beside him looking stunned at the fresh, new faces, trusts Ino to sit beside Sasuke and ward away girls without hitting on him herself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As it stands, Shikamaru can already see an odd friendship blossoming between the two Slytherins. The kind of friendship that will send other people running in fear. Just imagining Ino’s brutal cackling and Sasuke’s frigid sneer combined is making him sweat. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>What monster has he created?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Sakura nudges his elbow. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He glances at her with an eyebrow raised, not bothering to expend the energy to verbally reply. She nods her head subtly towards the Gryffindor table. There’s a rather eye-catching trio stood by Naruto, which is usually who Shikamaru’s eyes go to when he looks at that table anyway. Durmstrang students, by the looks of their clothes. Two guys and a girl, their facial features somewhat similar enough that they might be related, but with completely different coloring. A redhead with stunning teal eyes, highlighted by deep bags and what </span>
  <em>
    <span>has</span>
  </em>
  <span> to be eyeliner. A blonde with similar eyes, though she looks less exhausted and more stern, her arms crossed and her hair tied up out of her face. Then a brunette, the most dissimilar to both of them, with dark eyes and a rather plain face. He actually looks a bit like the Charms Teacher, Mr. Namiashi. Just...tanner. Younger. A little more scowl-y.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The very second Shikamaru sees Naruto’s bright, beautiful face light up like a clear day, he worries. Those crystal blue eyes are locked on the turquoise gems belonging to the redhead, the two teens talking and looking at each other with an ease that makes Shikamaru’s skin crawl.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s Gaara. They’ve known each other for a while due to their parents. They keep in contact like penpals.” Sakura whispers to him, and Shikamaru doesn’t even ask how she knows that he’s completely in love with Naruto when not even </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ino</span>
  </em>
  <span> knows, because he’s not surprised. Sakura has always been a little more observant, a little more </span>
  <em>
    <span>look</span>
  </em>
  <span> before </span>
  <em>
    <span>leap.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>She gives him a look that is equal parts sympathy and amusement. “Better hurry before you lose your chance, Shikamaru.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He sighs, feeling exhaustion settle over his bones already.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Great, just great.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Problem Number One: Gaara of Durmstrang.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>